The impact of health on the off-farm income of China's migrant workers

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the impact of health on the off-farm income of China's migrant workers by the Heckman model. The dataset collected from the Research Center for Rural Economy, the Ministry of Agriculture of China between 2003 and 2007 was used in this paper. The results of both qualitative and quantitative analysis show that the health of flowing workers significantly influences their off-farm income. Flowing workers associated with a poor health condition earn less than those who are of good health, and the off-farm income gap due to the health condition widens year by year. In addition, poor health negatively impacts the off-farm participant decision for the China's rural residents. Therefore, more attention should be given to the health investment of migrant workers so as to improve their health and increase their off-farm income.